Pope Benedict XVI has formally accepted the resignation of an Irish bishop amid child sex abuse scandals that have rocked the Catholic Church.

James Moriarty, Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, left his job in December following the release of a damning report accusing him and several other church officials of covering up sex abuses committed by catholic priests.

Hundreds of cases have mushroomed in Europe and the United States during the past month.

The publicity regarding the scandals has prompted some officials to call on Pope Benedict XVI to resign.

Moriarty, who was an auxiliary bishop in Dublin from 1991 to 2002, has apologized to all the associated sex victims and their families.

"Again I accept that from the time I became an auxiliary bishop, I should have challenged the prevailing culture. Once more I apologize to all survivors and their families," AFP quoted him as saying in a statement on Thursday.

A probe carried out by Murphy found that church leaders did not report any cases of sex abuse to police until the 1990s due to a culture of secrecy.

The investigation confirms that more than 100 children have been sexually abused by a priest and another one admitted he "had abused children on a fortnightly basis over 25 years."

Benedict himself is under fire over allegations that he didn't act decisively against pedophile priests before ascending to the papacy.